In aeroplanes it is known to arrange photo-luminescent stripes on the floor of the passenger cabin of the aeroplane in order to mark the escape route, which is also designated as an emergency marking. Photo-luminescence is here and then also called afterglow and/or phosphorescence. The requirements for the escape route marking under the aspect of safety are specified in the German industry norm DIN 67 510, for instance. The stripes are installed rectilinearly in the flooring, and in the emergency case, they indicate the way to the exits and the escape hatches to the passengers and the crew. In the past, photo-luminescent stripes have increasingly become accepted in the construction of aeroplanes, because they can be operated without voltage supply and do afterglow for a sufficient period of time and with sufficient brightness in the dark with the pigments that are presently at hand.
For instance from WO 96/33093 A1, an emergency lighting is known, in which a photo-luminescent stripe is incorporated into a transparent plastic material. Xylene, 2-butoxyethanol and cyclohexanone are used as the dyes for the photo-luminescent material.
A photo-luminescent reflection layer is known from WO 94/17766 A1, wherein phosphorescent pigments are applied in patterns to a substrate by screen printing.
A photo-luminescent escape route marking is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,050, wherein the photo-luminescent material is applied to the backside of a layer of a flat material that is made of plastic material.
Direction pointers for the escape route are known from WO 87/02813 A1, wherein photo-luminescent means are applied to a substrate material by spraying or screen printing.
A permanently fluorescing layer is known from EP 0 489 561 A1, wherein colour pigments are incorporated into a polymer matrix. In this, the fluorescent material can be incorporated into a carrier, which impairs different optical properties to the fluorescence light by additional filters.
Safety signs backed by a photo-luminescent material are known from FR 2 308 155 A1, wherein a dispersion with photo-luminescent pigments is applied to a transparent layer of plastic material.
In the use of known escape route markings, the problem has arisen again and again that areas of the marking loose their lighting power and/or their colour after the installation of the escape route marking.